Vergil

"Foolishness, Dante. Foolishness. Might controls everything - and without strength, you cannot protect anything; let alone yourself."

- Vergil to Dante, Devil May Cry 3

Vergil was the eldest of twin sons born of the demon Sparda and human Eva, and is the main antagonist of Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening and a playable character in its special edition. Following the death of their mother as children, Vergil and Dante go their separate ways, with Vergil rejecting his humanity and embracing his demonic heritage, contrasting his younger brother's embrace of humanity and initial rejection of the demonic. Stoic and reserved, Vergil displays a willingness to do anything in his quest to obtain the power of his father, Sparda.

In an unknown conclusion to a confrontation with Mundus in the secret ending to Devil May Cry 3, he is corrupted and becomes the Dark Angel encountered in Devil May Cry known as Nelo Angelo (also alternatively spelled Nero Angelo ). After numerous conflicts throughout the game, he is finally defeated by Dante.

He later makes a playable appearance in Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, where he is featured in his own personal campaign detailing his actions in the city of Fortuna decades before the events of 4, and shortly before 3.

Appearance
In terms of physical appearance, Vergil has fair, yet pale skin, and white, swept back hair, which puts emphasis on the fierce, yet stoic expression on his face; however, when his hair is brushed down or becomes wet, his appearance is physically indistinguishable from his younger twin brother, Dante. Just like his brother, he also possess the same, blue-colored eyes.

In terms of apparel, Vergil commonly wears a long, silver buttoned blue coat with three separated coattails. A white, serpentine pattern runs around the collar, with a snakes head hanging over the coat's left shoulder, and its tail slinking down the right, all the way to the bottom of the coat. A gold lining runs across the edges of the coat, and a silky, golden flower blossom pattern decorates the inner lining. Each cuff of the coat also possesses five, gold buttoned straps with gold lining; in Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, the coat also features identical straps on each shoulder, decorated with silver buttons instead of gold.

Underneath the coat, Vergil wears a navy blue ascot wrapped around his neck, which hangs over a black, sleeveless vest that reveals his well-toned arms and shoulders. He wears tan, finger-less gloves, a brown, snakeskin belt with a silver buckle, dark green pants with a scale pattern running across its surface, and tall, brown boots with two golden buckled straps at the top.

During certain in-game cutscenes in Devil May Cry 3, Vergil's golden half of the Perfect Amulet can be seen around his neck, yet it is not a permanent part of his character model.

As Corrupt Vergil, Vergil's appearance becomes much more sinister; his skin takes on a sickly, almost grey pallor with blue, pulsating veins running across his face. His eyes become a deep red, with black pupils. In addition, he now wears his father's clothing instead of his own, with his half of the Perfect Amulet replacing Dante's half as its brooch. In Devil May Cry 4, his outfit is slightly modified to his coat split into three coattails similar to his old outfit.

As Nelo Angelo, he wears a heavy, olive green/jade green colored armor with blue, pulsating lines running across it, and a purple, bat like cape. The armor features a helmet which fully encloses his head; a still, humanoid face with glowing, orange eyes detailing the front of the helmet, red and blue horns protrude from the sides, and he takes on skull-like knee guards, with one horn bigger than the other, but is designed evenly. Also instead of carrying weapon's he usually has, Nelo Angelo carries just a massive, unnamed broadsword which is serrated and erupts a fiery blue aura when attacking. His size is much taller than Dante's, showing off his intimidating stature.

In his final confrontation with Dante, Nelo Angelo removes his helmet to reveal his true face: the face of Vergil, now sporting a completely white skin tone, with blue veins and red, pupil-less eyes.

Personality
In contrast to his twin brother Dante's boisterous, outgoing, and extroverted personality, Vergil is calm, cool, collected, and introverted, constantly maintaining an aura of fearlessness. Vergil cares little for the well-being of those around him, and is unflinching in his pursuit of power; however, in spite of his cold and ruthlessness demeanor, he is an honorable warrior, who maintains his own set of morals and disciplines, he despises fighting dirty and cheap tactics, and refuses using firearms, deeming them unworthy of a "true warrior", staying true to only his blade as well other melee weapons he managed to obtain from defeated enemies. His code of honor still surfaces while he is corrupted as Nelo Angelo: he refuses to attack Dante from behind and waits until both are outside to begin their first fight.

It would appear that Dante and Vergil were close at one time during their childhood. Despite all that happened between them, their rivalry and mutual dislike for one another, it would seem that Vergil does truly care for Dante. During their fight against Arkham in Devil May Cry 3, Dante and Vergil worked effectively as a team and were comfortable with pulling off complicated maneuvers like swapping swords in mid-air. Upon finishing him off, Vergil and Dante used Dante's guns for it while simultaneously saying a catchphrase, "Jackpot", after Dante asked his brother, "Remember what we used to say?" This bond between them is not entirely gone. It is believed that during their last battle, Vergil refused to be saved by Dante so as not to acquire his father's power for himself, but to actually save Dante and allow him to take a final decision whether to be trapped in the Demon World or not.

Unlike Dante, Vergil is willing to embrace his demonic heritage, and seeks to emulate his father's power and cold persona. While Dante seeks to protect humanity from the demons, Vergil wants more demonic power, regardless of the consequences for those around him. Despite his normal personality of cold dismissal, he does cherish two things - the Devil-blade Yamato, a dark O-Katana left to him as a keepsake by his father, and his own half of the Perfect Amulet, a keepsake from his mother. In Devil May Cry 3, Vergil seems to reveal some of his feelings by claiming to Dante: "Might controls everything, and without strength you cannot protect anything, let alone yourself.". This may be a reference to their mother's death. It may also imply that Vergil seeks power as compensation for failing to protect her. His failure may also have made him forsake close human relationships.

As Nelo Angelo, Vergil only depends on fighting battles to finish the work. While also becoming fully demonic, he will only make dark chuckles instead of commenting on his foes' own efforts to beat him. As addition to his boosted demonic abilities, his mind is slim and any form of memories (which also includes the half of the Perfect Amulet that Dante had) will cause his mental state to be stimulated with scarred ones.

Devil May Cry 1 novel
As Gilver, Vergil was very sadistic as seen when he violently tortures Dante using Nell's shotgun. Vergil began to dislike alcohol after having lost a drinking match against Tony, passing out, and being robbed by the bar's patrons.

Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition
In Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, players may play on a separate file as Vergil. Vergil's scenario has a new prologue, but all other cutscenes were removed. Also, while the Vergil boss fights are still fought, the boss wears red instead of blue so that the player can see the difference.

Vergil possesses his Devil Trigger and all three of his Devil Arms (Yamato, Beowulf, and Force Edge) from the beginning of his scenario. His signature Dark Slayer Style behaves somewhat like an upgraded Trickster Style, allowing to quickly move on the battlefield and ambush enemies. It must also be leveled in order to allow purchase of higher level actions for Vergil's weapons. Vergil also cannot obtain as many actions per weapon as Dante can, and uses his Summoned Swords instead of firearms.

Vergil's Yamato is a faster weapon than Dante's Rebellion, but has weaker power and range. Yamato can be compared to Agni & Rudra in its role, although it has completely different moveset. Vergil's Beowulf cannot charge attacks like Dante's, but overall is more powerful. Vergil can also use Yamato and Force Edge together, and his actions with the pair of swords resembles Dante with the Rebellion. Finally, while firing his Summoned Swords cannot propel Vergil like Ebony & Ivory can propel Dante, they can still juggle enemies, can be used without interrupting other actions, and can be used both to guard himself or to surround the enemy.

Instead of Dante's "Legendary Dark Knight Dante" and "Super Legendary Dark Knight Dante" costumes which allow him to assume Sparda Devil Trigger, Vergil possesses the "Corrupt Vergil" and "Super Corrupt Vergil" costumes which allow him to assume his Nelo Angelo Devil Trigger. While in human form in either incarnation, his appearance is similar to Dante's "Legendary Dark Knight Dante" look, except without the monocle, and has evil red eyes, a pale complexion, a darker purple coat with yellow borders, and highly noticeable dark veins in his face.

As Nelo Angelo, Vergil becomes noticeably stronger than Dante in their first encounter and his entire moveset changes to that of that one he possessed in the first game. His armor and zweihänder serve as his weapons and both inflict dark elemental damage. He attacks with slow but strong sword slashes, punches and kicks that generate an azure-colored flame. He can also charge up to fire explosive azure blasts of energy with either weapon. Nelo Angelo still retains his Air Trick, but comes in the form of vanishing in a blaze of azure flame instead of a blur. While the powerful armor gives him higher resistance to flinching, he is noticeably slower than his original devil form.

Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition
In the Special Edition of Devil May Cry 4, Vergil will retain his moves from the Special Edition of Devil May Cry 3, but also added with elements from the reboot of the franchise DmC: Devil May Cry in the form of just frame Judgment Cuts and using Summoned Swords to warp towards his targets as well as other interactables. It is known that his moves are also fully upgradable. And a feature has been added for his choice of stylized fighting, which is known as the "Concentration" mechanic. While in action, Vergil's abilities and moves will grow stronger and faster the more calmly and flawlessly he fights. Unlike with the other four playable characters, Vergil goes through all of the stages by himself.

The Concentration mechanic is signaled by a blue gauge in the upper left corner of the screen which is Vergil's Concentration Gauge. It has three levels. The higher the level, the more powerful attacks he will be able to perform. To increase the gauge, Vergil can land attacks on enemies and dodge their attacks, standing still or walking towards them, but if he is hit by an enemy or if he runs away from one, these cause the gauge to deplete. Missing attacks also depletes the gauge, so the player must be efficient with their attacks during battle.

Viewtiful Joe
Vergil's attire is a costume for Stylish Alastor in Viewtiful Joe Red Hot Rumble.

SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS
Vergil is a character card in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighter DS.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
In Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, Vergil is the fourth alternate color costume for the famous Capcom and Resident Evil villain, Albert Wesker.

Vergil appears as a playable character in the updated version of the game, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, having been leaked before his vignette was shown at the Tokyo Game Show 2011. As before, he still wields all of his weapons from Devil May Cry 3 which include the Yamato, Beowulf and Force Edge, while still using their attacks in the same manner. While not as combo savvy as Dante, his Yamato gives him excellent range in his normals and his Trick maneuvers can either be used independently or used right after several specials, giving him excellent mindgames.

Unlike most characters, Vergil has four Hypers, one being the desperation version of his Judgment Cut called "Dimension Slash" from the final battle, another where he brings about his Spiral Swords to augment his attacks and use them in the same manner he did in Devil May Cry 3, using the familiar arrow formation and the boss-only orbiting formation, both which use up the gauge.

Another of his activates his Devil Trigger and his fourth, a Level 3 Hyper called "Dark Angel" only available in DT where he slashes the opponent, summoning swords behind his opponent with each strike and then rains them down on his opponent when finished. This Hyper is one of the most damaging Hypers in UMVC3.

Vergil's theme is a remix of his boss battle theme from Mission 13. His alternate colors consist of a black swap based on a concept render, a blue and red one based on Nero, a white based on Kyosuke from the Capcom fighting game, Rival Schools, a red one for his "Vante" version and a vibrant blue and red one based on Dimitri from Darkstalkers, another Capcom fighting game. His DLC outfit is Corrupt Vergil (although the appearance of his Devil Trigger Hyper is that of Sparda as opposed to Nelo Angelo, the developer citing problems integrating the appearance of Nelo's weapons with Vergil's moveset).

In the CG opening, he is seen fighting against Wolverine. In his arcade mode ending, he subdues Wolverine by stealing the Muramasa Blade from him to negate his healing factor. Unfortunately, Vergil becomes addicted to the Muramasa's blood-thirsty nature fueling his Devil Trigger (implying it to be the first Muramasa Blade), and seeks out more blood for the sword to feast on.

Basara
A DLC costume based on Vergil's likeness is available for Ishida Mitsunari in Sengoku Basara 4, complementing Date Masamune's DLC costume based on Dante. Both costumes serve to compare Mitsunari and Masamune's rivalry to the one seen between Vergil and Dante.

Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale
Vergil appears as an obtainable icon in Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, unlocked after players reach Rank 18 with Dante.

Project X Zone 2
Vergil makes his debut in the sequel to Project X Zone, where he appears as a pair unit with Dante, and is capable of pulling off the super move "Jackpot!" with him, referencing the finishing blow to Arkham he performed with Dante using Ebony and Ivory in Devil May Cry 3. His corrupted alter ego, Nelo Angelo, also appears as a Rival Unit; the two existing as separate entities as Vergil is time-displaced from the past prior Devil May Cry 3 whilst Nelo Angelo exists as his present timeline incarnation.

Trivia

 * Nelo Angelo's name is synonymous to the misspelled "Nero Angelo" (i.e. "Black Angel" in Italian). This alternate spelling has been maintained throughout the series, and later repeated with Berial in Devil May Cry 4. This is because the interchangeability of L & R vowels during translation of the Japanese language to English causes difficulties in localization; since the Japanese language lacks a set of vowels for L sounds, it's not always clear which is implied.
 * Nelo Angelo's battle theme, Ultra Violet, bears similarities to Sparda's second battle theme, S. The composer stated this was done to foreshadow the connection between Nelo Angelo and Sparda.
 * Although Corrupt Vergil appears as a DLC outfit in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, his Nelo Angelo Devil Trigger was excluded due to technical difficulties implementing the model with Vergil's character frame. Instead, he is given Sparda's Devil Trigger, and paired with Yamato, unintentionally references the original Devil May Cry's unlockable Sparda costume, where the Yamato was first introduced. Later, In Vergil's campaign in Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, Corrupt Vergil once again eschews the Nelo Angelo Devil Trigger in favor of Sparda's true form; interestingly, the Yamato's sheathe grafted to Vergil's left arm in Devil Trigger is also grafted to Sparda's left arm.
 * Vergil's Level 3 Hyper Combo in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, Dark Angel, is a direct reference to Nelo Angelo.
 * Vergil's alias in the novel, Gilver, is a phonetic anagram of his name.
 * In Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, while using his Nelo Angelo Devil Trigger seen with his "Corrupt Vergil" costume, he is able to verbalize words while taunting (e.g. "Come on!"), despite the fact that Nelo Angelo was incapable of speech in the original Devil May Cry.
 * Vergil's name is a reference to the character Virgil from the Divine Comedy, the embodiment of human reasoning who accompanies Dante Alighieri; ironically, this is a direct contrast to Vergil, who distances himself from humanity as much as possible and frequently antagonizes his younger brother, Dante.
 * In the Japanese versions of Devil May Cry 3, Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, as a further contrast from Dante for more Eastern Asian-touches to his fighting style, nearly all of Vergil's techniques are all written completely different from their English names as kanji-based names with different meanings.